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ORION recognized for collaborative cybersecurity solution at CANHEIT 2017

Innovative collaboration supports cybersecurity at higher education institutions in Ontario

 

We always appreciate a spotlight on what ORION does best.

Last night at CANHEIT 2017 in Kingston, ORION, in collaboration with eight higher education institutions in Ontario, was recognized for its shared Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) pilot project as a finalist for the 2017 CUCCIO Award for Collaboration.

The CUCCIO Awards honour individuals, groups or institutions whose work exemplifies CUCCIO’s efforts to build and support Canada’s higher education IT community.  

ORION’s unique strength has always been innovative collaborations. The two-year pilot project, which creates a new role of CISO, located at ORION, but shared amongst participating higher education institutions, addresses common cybersecurity challenges.

The role provides strategic advice, tools and knowledge for supporting compliance, risk management and development of a governance framework, as well as delivery of a broader shared security services.

Cyber security is a priority for many educational institutions across Canada, especially as data breaches, malwares and DDOS occur more frequently.

“It’s an honour for this collaborative project to be recognized by its IT peers in higher education,” says Farooq Naiyer, who started in the new CISO role in April. “The nomination and selection as a finalist underlines the unique role ORION can play in providing innovative and trusted solutions for our digital community.”  

Each of the participating institutions will benefit from Farooq’s in-depth experience in cybersecurity, privacy, technology compliance and assurance. Prior to joining ORION, Farooq held leadership positions in information security, compliance and audit in leading organizations in North America and the Middle East. 

“I believe this is a landmark initiative for Ontario higher education shared services that helps to address a critical issue for the community,” says Luc Roy, CIO of Laurentian University, who spearheaded the creation of the project.

“If successful it will be recognized as incredibly important and will scale to help centralize and manage IT security for universities, colleges and potentially other stakeholders, for the R&E community in Ontario.”

We look forward to putting more of a spotlight on this innovative collaboration for our community.